Tech

Look out, iPhone XS: A boatload of powerful Android phones are coming in October

Don't care much about the new iPhones? Good. There are a ton of new Android phones coming out this October, and some are promising to be a far more interesting than Apple's mildly upgraded flagships.

First, on October 3, LG will launch its triple-rear-camera V40 flagship. Six days later, we'll get new Pixel phones from Google. Razer is likely about to launch a gaming-related phone just one day later, on Oct 10. And then Samsung has a mysterious Galaxy event on Oct. 11.

And Huawei will launch its Mate 20 flagship on Oct. 16 — likely the second triple-rear-camera phone to be launched in a month.

LG's smartphone division hasn't made money in years, but, starting with the LG G6 and the LG V30, it's been producing phones that are actually pretty great.

With the LG V40, the company might also have a world's first on its hands. In its promotional materials, LG strongly hinted that the phone will have a triple rear camera. Rumors say it will also have a dual selfie camera, and while we've seen both features on phones before, no major manufacturer has had both on the same device.

The dual-camera systems on previous LG phones have been pretty good, so there's reason to believe that the LG V40 will be the phone with the best cameras to come out this year.

Specs-wise, the LG V40 is rumored to have an OLED display, a Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of storage. Google's Android 9 Pie will likely be on board, and LG's ThinQ tech will enhance the phone's camera and other features with the help of AI.

There aren't too many secrets left to share about Google's upcoming Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL phones. Both devices have been leaked left and right, so we know the smaller Pixel 3 will have a notchless screen, while the larger Pixel 3 XL will have a notch on top (both will have a sizable chin and Google's typical two-tone design on the back).

The 5.5-inch (or thereabouts) Pixel 3 will likely have a single rear camera and dual selfie cameras, as well as a 2,915mAh camera. The Pixel 3 XL will likely have a 6.2-inch screen and a similar camera setup (one on the back, two on the front). Both phones are likely to sport a Snapdragon 845 chipset, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.

Also, over the weekend, Google launched a teaser website which indicates the phone will come in three colors: Black, white, and mint green.

The most interesting aspect of Pixel phones is never hardware, though — it's software. Android is Google's playground, and the company often introduces completely new features together on the Pixel devices. Expect surprises, especially in the camera department.

Razer has bravely squeezed its event between Google and Samsung events, but given how busy October is, the company didn't have much of a choice.

We know next to nothing about what Razer's about to unveil, though the invite text — "Flagship // Gaming" — does indicate that we're about to see a followup to last year's gaming-oriented Razer Phone. Expect powerful hardware, exceptional gaming performance, and... maybe a better camera?

This one is even more of a mystery than the Razer device; in fact, we don't really know it's a phone. The Note 9 came mere months ago, and it's way too early for a Galaxy S device, which are typically unveiled in March.

Announced with the tagline "4X fun," the event could bring us the long-awaited, oft-rumored foldable Samsung phone, but that's a big "if," given that the company's CEO of mobile, DJ Koh, recently had a lot to say about such a device, which could be unveiled fairly soon.

It's equally as possible that Samsung will be unveiling some sort of laptop, but since the Galaxy brand has strongly been tied to phones and tablets, we're banking on a mobile device.

Despite all the big names on the list above, Huawei's upcoming Mate 20 might turn out to be the most interesting October launch. The company has been slowly, steadily building towards this moment, each of its flagships significantly better than the last one. Its P20 Pro was the first triple-rear-camera phone on the market, and it's still among the best.

The Mate 20 will likely have a refined version of that camera, and it will also have Huawei's new Kirin 980 chipset which the company claims is better than the Snapdragon 845 in a myriad ways. The rest of the specs will likely be very strong: A 6.3-inch AMOLED screen, a 4,200mAh battery, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and wireless charging are rumored. And Huawei typically launches more than one flavor of its flagships; the Mate 20 Lite is already out, but we may also see the more powerful "Pro" and "Porsche Edition" variants.

The maybes: OnePlus 6T, Asus ROG Phone, RED Hydrogen One

Amazingly, the list likely won't stop there. Several more phones are scheduled for (or have been postponed into) the fall, so they'll probably launch either in October or November.

The biggest name on the list is OnePlus, whose 6T flagship is a highly anticipated successor to the OnePlus 6, often crowned the king of affordable Android phones. Rumors say it'll have a 6.4-inch OLED screen with a built-in fingerprint sensor, a Snapdragon 845 chip, 6/8GB of RAM, and 64/128/256GB of storage (unfortunately, it probably won't have a headphone jack).

As for that launch date, the OnePlus 5T came out in November, so it's fair to assume the 6T will follow in its footsteps. However, there have been so many leaks, teasers, and announcements related to this phone that I wouldn't be too surprised to see it a little earlier this year.

Image: Asus

We know most of the details about Asus' gaming-oriented ROG Phone — it's an absolute beast with a lot of interesting tweaks and features aimed to enhance your mobile gaming experience. What we don't know is exact date of availability or the price, but there's a fair probability that we get them in October.

Image: RED

Finally, there's the RED Hydrogen One phone. Coming from RED, the company known for its high-end cameras, it will be somewhat of an odd beast, with a unique, "holographic" screen, (likely) a top-notch camera and aging specs. The phone is already very late to the market, so RED will be struggling to release it as soon as possible. The phone actually has a Nov. 2 launch date, but that's only for the carrier variant; pre-orders should be shipping on Oct. 9. Why are we putting this one down as a "maybe," then? Well, it's been delayed so much that we won't believe it until we see it.

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